There are known tealights provided in cups made of heat conductive material, such as metal (for example aluminum) or metal alloy, having a shape of a cylinder, wherein the diameter of a circular base is greater than the height of a sidewall. The cup serves as a bowl for a flammable mass, which melts and decreases its volume as it is combusted, until the whole melted mass is combusted, when the flame stops.
An PCT patent application WO2010064941 presents a tealight cup, in which a base has a formed groove along its edge and a central depression connected with three radially formed grooves. The angle between the bottom edge of the grooves and the horizontal level and the angle between the base plane and the horizontal level is between 0 and 60 degrees. The radial grooves serve to guide the flammable mass from the outer edge of the base to the central depression where a wick is secured. The groove is relatively shallow (its depth equals about 5% of the total height of the cup). If the angle of groove inclination were to be increased, this would result in the increase of the angle of the base plane. Therefore, for increased inclination angles, the bottom has a shape of a cone which is convex outwardly, which facilitates flow of melted flammable mass towards the wick.
A German patent document DE19548958 presents a structure of a tealight cup, which allows more efficient use of the flammable mass. The cup has a central cavity connected with shallow radial channels (having depth equal to about 8% of the total height of the cup) formed in the bottom. The radial channels do not extend to the outer edge of the base of the cup.
A PCT patent application WO0139407 discloses a tealight cup having conical side walls and a bottom with small depressions forming legs of the cup, as well as a circumferential groove.
A U.S. Pat. No. 7,247,017 discloses a construction of a tealight cup allowing a more efficient use of flammable mass. The cup comprises a convex perforated cap having a shape complementary to a recess formed centrally in the bottom of the cup. The cap and the recess are shaped so that, between the surface of the cap and the recess there is formed a capillary gap, through which the melted flammable mass flows towards a wick.
A US patent application US2007275336A1 discloses a candle holder with thin stubs formed in the bottom of the holder for preventing the candlewick and its supporting plate from moving horizontally when the solid fuel is melting.
A U.S. Pat. No. 6,033,209 discloses a melody candle assembly, wherein a candle has a bottom cap with two recesses formed around different circumferences around the central area of the cap in order to allow selection of different switches of a candlestick in order to select a melody to be played.
The construction of tealights candleholders depends mainly on their function and aesthetic properties. For example, a candleholder for tealights may form a set with a teapot for making tea—in such case the candleholder has a form of a bowl on which the teapot is positioned. Fancy shapes of candleholders do not always allow for permanent mount of a tealight, especially when its base surface, on which the tealight is positioned, is not flat.
This may cause tilt of tealights with respect to a horizontal level, for example when the tealight is not positioned horizontally or when the candleholder is displaced. In addition, even if the candleholder allows for precise positioning of the tealight within the candleholder, the candleholder itself may be tilted for example, when it is positioned on an uneven surface, for example a tabletop of a table positioned in a garden or on an inclined window sill. In such a case, the melted flammable mass of the tealight will concentrate mainly in the lowest part of the cup. This may cause loss of contact between the wick and the flammable mass leading to early extinguishing of the flame. As a consequence, an inclined tealight will burn out more quickly than a tealight positioned horizontally and having the same structure of the cup, due to the fact that part of the flammable mass concentrated in the lowest point of the inclined tealight will remain unburnt.
There is therefore a need to provide a tealight cup, which will allow efficient use of flammable mass even in case when the tealight burns in an inclined position.